Dreamtale
by WolfskyeFever
Summary: A girl experiences the adventures of Undertale through oddly realistic dreams. In her dreams, the characters act strange and seem reluctant to interact with her, despite her neutral status. Things get even weirder when she starts hearing a strange voice in her head that carries over into real life. These can't be ordinary dreams, right? Will anyone explain to her what's going on?
1. Chapter 1

Recently, thanks to the annoying prodding of my friends, I purchased a game called _Undertale_. I really didn't want to cough up the money for it, since money is already tight as it is. However, after watching a couple of the boss fights, and hearing some of the backstory, I decided to give it a try. The great soundtrack was also a plus. I had already downloaded a couple of the songs to listen to in my down time.

One thing my friends pointed out was that it felt uncanny, almost. I just figured that he was being superstitious. He was the kind of person who actually believed the stories about haunted games and all that shit. However, as I started the game up and actually started playing, I could see what he meant. The characters in the game were unique, to put it plainly.

When I first loaded into the game, things were normal. I named my character "Twix". As I progressed through the story, however, I couldn't help but notice how strange the NPCs acted. They seemed…. nervous. Even the little monsters in the battle scenes had unnerved facial expressions. It made me wonder if that was their normal expressions.

I had just reached Toriel's house when I was starting to feel tired. It had been a long day, and I had a lot of homework to do before I could actually play the game. So, I saved and exited. My odd feeling then vanished as the game closed out. I carried through the rest of my night as usual and went to sleep with ease.

~

I awoke in a dream. There was a slight aroma in the air, and as I came to I could feel light, almost feathery objects on my face. My mind felt clouded, like I had taken a hard hit to the head. The air felt stagnant and wet, which felt odd in my lungs. Eventually I managed to open my eyes, and the first thing I saw was golden flowers.

Despite the splitting headache I had, I managed to sit up. _Where am I?_ was the first thing to cross my mind. My head pounded as I tried to gather my thoughts. I was tempted to just lay back down and close my eyes again, but I felt an odd determination overcome me as I thought that. _You can't give up now._

Wait- who's voice was that? I looked around, startled by the voice I had just heard. It certainly wasn't my own. Did I hit my head? I felt for any dents or lumps on my skull. A wetness hit my fingers and I pulled away. Blood. Shit. Hearing voices and having a gash in your head doesn't mix well. I needed to find a doctor right away.

The only problem with that was: I had no idea where I was. They say that the best time to explore is when you have a raging concussion, right...? I somehow managed to stand, my vision slightly blurry. I thought to myself, _This_ is _a dream, right?_ Slowly, I started to walk forward as my eyes scanned the area.

I walked through a doorway and as I did, I heard a voice mumble, "Here we go again…." I passed it off as just another symptom of the injury. I kept walking forward until I heard screaming. That startled me, so I quickly stepped back, and due to my delirious state, I fell backwards onto my butt.

"Jeez, you _idiot_! Look where you're walking next time!" a voice scolded me. I looked around for the source of it, utterly confused. "Ugh, humans, I swear…." The voice trailed off, as if it was holding back on what it really wanted to say. My eyes eventually landed on… a flower…?

"What?" was all I could muster up. The flower looked extremely annoyed. When it noticed I was looking at it, its expression quickly changed. Now it looked friendly. Yeah… this has to be a dream.

"Howdy! I'm Flowey! Flowey the flower!" the flower cheerily said. I watched, still confused as hell. A part of me felt some deja vu at this moment… Where have I heard this before? With my injury, there was no way I could properly recall any memories of mine.

"Uh… I-I'm-"

"Hmm… You're new to the underground, aren'tcha?" Flowey continued, as if I hadn't even bothered to speak at all. I frowned, but decided to keep quiet and listen to whatever this crazy flower had to say. "Golly, you must be so confused." _No shit._ "Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! I guess little old me will have to do."

After that, we just stared at each other. I waited for him to explain something, but it never came. My level of annoyance was slowly rising with this stupid flower. I decided to cut the silence.

"Look, can you tell me where a doctor is?" I asked, trying to hide my irritated tone.

"Hey, idiot. You're not supposed to talk. That's not how it works," Flowey responded. His friendly expression disappeared. "I know how this is going to go. I'm going show extreme generosity towards you and explain how things work, you're going to almost die, and then that damned Toriel is going to shoot fire at me." My annoyed expression turned back to one of confusion. What the hell is this thing going on about?

"I'm just going to save myself a hell of a lot of trouble and kill you now, before she realizes you're down here. Got it? Now, stay still…," Flowey said, and suddenly white bullets appeared out of thin air. I scrambled to get away, head pounding. Somehow I managed to get off with just a graze, but the pain coupled with my headache caused me to yelp.

"No, shut up, you idiot!" Flowey demanded in a hushed tone. "You'll lure her here!" More bullets appeared and they rushed at me, faster this time. I rolled out of the way, only to see more of them appearing. I thought to myself, _This is it. I'm going to die at the hands of a flower._

Suddenly, I felt a wave of heat swing through the air. After cowering on the ground for a bit, I looked up and saw who I assumed was Toriel. I looked around, seeing no sign of Flowey. Relief washed over me and I sat up, holding my head. All the rolling around had made my headache ten times worse.

"Oh, dear… It's a good thing I heard you holler, or else…," she trailed off, not wanting to mention the outcome of that situation. She walked over to me and smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "My name is Toriel. I'm the caretaker of these ruins."

"Oh, my name is-" Toriel interrupted me with a gasp.

"Oh my! Did you fall and hit your head?" she asked, her eyes focused on what I assumed to be the injury on my head. I nodded slowly. At this point, something was screaming deja vu at me, but my head and body were aching so badly that I couldn't bring myself to care. "Okay, I'll bring you to my house and we'll get you patched up, alright honey?"

Finally, I could find relief for this raging headache. I followed Toriel through… whatever this place was. I believe she referred to them as ruins, however, in the state I was in, I couldn't retain much information. As I followed, Toriel was rambling something about puzzles and monsters. I blindly followed her instructions, simply wanting to get to her house.

However, we ended up stopping at some point. Toriel gave me a cellphone and asked me to stay put. I agreed and sat down, leaning my back against a nearby pillar (one that Toriel tried to hide behind). I fiddled around with it to pass time as I waited. The thing was very out-dated. It was a flip phone, and there wasn't even a texting application. I sighed and closed my eyes.

I waited for a long time until I figured she wasn't coming back. Did she expect me to stay here and rot? I wasn't sure. I got up and decided to start moving forward, determined to get out of the musty ruins. Besides the fact that the air was starting to make it difficult to breathe, there was also the fact that the crazy flower might return to finish his job. I wasn't going to risk my life waiting for some old goat lady.

I ventured forth. There was a frog-like creature in the next room over that chatted to me for a bit. He said something about mercy and fighting. I didn't really pay attention, since I was too focused on simply getting through the ruins. I encountered some obstacles after that, and shifted my energy into solving those. After awhile, I started to feel mentally exhausted.

One can only do so much after waking up with a serious head injury, being nearly killed by a flower, and being abandoned by the thing that saved you. I just wanted to go home. This place was wearing me down, wherever it was. However, each time I thought about quitting, that odd sense of determination filled me again. I had no idea where it was coming from. I honestly wasn't feeling determined at all; I felt drained.

Eventually I had come across some kind of tree. It appeared to be dead, with leaves surrounding its base. I looked around and called out for Toriel, but no one came. At this point, I was so frustrated and in so much pain that I felt like crying. My wounds ached. My brain felt like a mess of tangled cords. And each time I thought about quitting and taking a nap, a voice in my head snapped at me. It was all so overwhelming.

Looking past the tree, I saw a house. Hope flickered in my heart. Was that Toriel's house? I stumbled over towards the entrance. As I was walking towards the door, I heard a voice (outside of my own head). It was a hushed voice, and I could barely understand it. As I strained my ears to listen, it almost sounded like… Toriel.

"I can't keep doing this anymore!" she whispered distraughtly. "What if it happens again?"

I frowned. Something within me told me that whatever she was talking about, it had to do with me. I backed away from the door, losing my flicker of hope. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something had flashed. I looked down at a bed of leaves by the home. A yellow light flashed again. Confused, I reached out for it. As I touched it, I felt my whole body go warm, and my vision went black. A feeling of nothingness washed over me.

~

I woke up in my bed, covered in a cold sweat. My head was pounding, and my body ached. _What a weird dream…_ I thought. I looked at my arms and had a sudden pang of anxiety. In the dream, I remembered having been shot by some kind of magic bullets. On my arms, in the same spots where they had grazed me, were ever so light scars.

I shot out of bed and ran into the bathroom. The suddenness of my movements caused me to go lightheaded, and I stumbled as I flipped on the light. I fell, my arms reaching for something, anything, to catch my fall with. Instead, I ended up landing awkwardly on my wrist. A loud "pop" sounded through the bathroom. I gritted my teeth in pain. _I'm such an idiot._

I bit my lip and grabbed onto the sink with my good hand, slowly pulling myself up. Pain seared through my body. I took a moment to compose myself, then reluctantly looked up and into the mirror. The mirror showed me exactly what I was afraid of: dried blood in my hair, and a decently sized gash in the topside of my head. I suddenly had the feeling that my dream wasn't just any ordinary dream.


	2. Chapter 2

I decided to stay home today. I was in no position to attend classes, not with how shitty I felt. My grades were in good enough standing to where I could afford to skip a day or two. My friends would be more than willing to share their notes with me as well. Despite this, I still felt I should at least attempt to study.

I sprawled out as best I could on my little love seat. I lived in a studio apartment, so there wasn't much room for a lot of furniture. Textbooks and notebooks were littered across the coffee table in front of me. I tried my best to focus on reading over my notes for my English Composition class, but the pounding headache just got worse, not to mention my wrist hurt like hell.

I closed my notebook and groaned. What was happening to me? Maybe I needed to go see the university nurse. My university had its own walk-in clinic, staffed with nurse practitioners. There was a doctor that worked there, but she was only there certain days of the week.

The next thing that popped into my mind was how I would explain these wounds… Saying I received them in a dream didn't seem very realistic. They'd probably refer me straight to a psychologist. A feeling of hopelessness overcame me. I couldn't explain this to anyone. No one would believe me… they'd mark me off as crazy right away.

 _That's pretty pathetic thinking,_ I heard a voice say. I jumped, startled, and looked around. _The sooner you learn that you can only rely on yourself, the better._ What? I didn't see anyone, but that voice certainly wasn't my own. _It's a dog-eat-dog world out there, buddy._

"Wh-who are you?" I called out, my voice quiet, not wanting to alert the neighbors by yelling. I heard a chuckle, but the voice didn't respond after that. I thought to myself, _Damn, I really am going crazy…_ I looked down at my swollen, hurt wrist. I at least needed to get that treated. If I wore a hoodie, I could probably cover up the rest of my wounds…

~

I had always hated sitting in waiting rooms. It almost feels like the germs from other sick people just… stick onto you as you wait. Not to mention, some people just don't have good manners, and cough or sneeze without covering their mouth. I was more than happy to go back when the nurse called my name.

"So, what's the reason we're seeing you today?" the nurse asked as she did a check of my weight and temperature.

"I think I sprained my wrist," I responded. I winced as the nurse gently grabbed my wrist. She apologized, but continued holding it to feel the bones. It hurt like hell, but I bit my lip to overcome it.

"Hmm, it doesn't feel broken, at least. We'll get the practitioner to see you as soon as possible," she said as she led me back to the rooms. She opened a door and stepped aside. "Go on in." I walked into the room and sat on the bed. The smell of the room was comforting. It wasn't quite like a hospital smell, but it smelled… clean.

The nurse practitioner came in and we made small talk. She asked how I received the sprain and I just told her some shitty made up story about how the steam from the shower made the floor slippery and I fell. She seemed to believe me, to my relief. The nurse bandaged the wrist, gave me a splint, and gave me a prescription for anti-inflammatory painkillers. She mentioned that it was only a grade one sprain, so it should heal up quickly. I was thankful for that.

 _She only helped you because she's paid to do it._ I ignored the voice in my head as I left the office.

~

I returned home after collecting my prescription and sighed in relief. Almost immediately I went to the sink and grabbed a glass of water to take one of my painkillers. I was only prescribed for a week's worth, but hopefully my headaches would be gone by then. The only unfortunate part was that I'd have to wear a splint for a few days, but luckily it was on the non-dominant hand.

My stress levels were still pretty high, so I decided that perhaps I could relax by playing some videogames. I sat at my computer desk and opened up _Undertale_. Surely (hopefully) the weird dream wouldn't come back tonight, and my friends wanted me to finish the game before our next club meeting. I pushed all my negative thoughts back and started up the game.

I had just left off at Toriel's house, right outside at the save point. I numbly played through it, skimming the dialogue, and not really getting one-hundred percent into the game. Toriel had made a pie, and I explored the house a bit. She was acting very kind towards someone she just met. A thought crossed my mind, _What if I was a murderer?_

 _You can be._ I frowned, pushing the uninvited thought out of my head. I played through the game, getting to the point where Toriel engages a fight. My friends advised me to spare everyone my first run, so I did. It took a long time, to my surprise. For a character that encourages kindness and mercy, Toriel was pretty set on fighting my character.

Eventually, the painkillers set in and a new feeling came to me: hunger. I decided to play through to the next save point. I tried to pass Flowey as quick as possible, having a flashback to my strange dream. However, something he said gave me an odd feeling. Kill or be killed… isn't that similar to what the voice in my head said? I shuddered, quickly tossing out the idea.

I met the cheesy skeleton named Sans and his ambitious, yet arrogant brother, Papyrus. I thought their designs were kind of cute, and being named after font types was a quirky touch. Their little quarrel cheered me up, and I giggled to myself at each of Sans' jokes. Thankfully, after that there was a save point, so I decided to hop off the game for today and grab some food before actually getting some studying done.

The rest of the day quickly passed, and before I knew it I was in bed trying to get to sleep. The splint on my wrist made it hard, but eventually I managed to fall asleep. I had ended the day on a positive note, so I thought I would sleep well that night. I was wrong.

~

I woke up in a bed I did not recognize. Panic shot through me as I sat up, but it was quickly overrun with pain and I couldn't help but cry out. Why did my body ache so badly? Where was I? What's going on? I looked down and saw many bandages wrapped around my arms and torso. They were stained with blood.

"Child, are you okay?" I heard a panicked voice call. A figure entered my room. The lights came on and I squinted, but soon recognized the figure to be Toriel. _Am I dreaming again?_ I thought to myself. Toriel walked over to me and felt my forehead with the back of her hand… hoof? "Oh my, you're burning up!"

"Wh-where am I…?" I weakly asked. Toriel smiled with sympathy. She gently stroked my hair back out of my face and behind my ear. I frowned as I looked at her, remembering what she said in my previous dream. "What's going on?" I added.

"You're at my house, in the spare room. As for what's going on… I can't quite answer that, but I have a friend who might be able to. You can meet him as soon as your wounds are healed up," Toriel said. "I'll get you some tea." She quickly left the room. I had noticed that just as she turned around, the smile on her face disappeared. I didn't think I was supposed to see that.

Toriel left me to my own thoughts. Is this happening because I'm playing the game? I wondered what would happen if I stopped playing. As I thought that, a strong feeling of determination overcame me. _You can't stop now. You're not a quitter, are you?_ the voice in my head said, teasing. I frowned. No, I had to finish the game. I couldn't face my friends if I told them I quit playing because of weird dreams. They'd probably laugh at me, then I'd become the weird one in the group that everyone secretly talks about behind my back.

 _They don't really care about you. They're just tolerating you._ My frown deepened and I pressed my hands against my eyes, pushing in until I saw dim fireworks. Why won't this voice go away? Why is it tormenting me? _They wanted to you play the game. They wanted you to go through this. It's their fault._

"Get out of my head!" I cried out, my nails digging into my forehead as I rolled around in the bed. Pain seared through me as tears fell from my eyes. A heard a dark, menacing chuckle, and couldn't help but sob in helplessness. How does one rid a voice in their head? It felt impossible.

Toriel came back in a rush, tea in hand. "Child! Stop rolling around like that, you'll tear open your wounds!" she said urgently. I quickly wiped the tears from my eyes, rolling back over onto my back. My lip still trembled as tears threatened to fall, but Toriel made no comment. "Here. Drink this, it will help you feel better."

She sat on the edge of the bed and handed me the tea as I slowly moved, sitting up. I nodded and whispered a thank you, taking the tea and sipping it. The warm liquid felt nice on my throat. I hadn't realized until now, but my body felt ice cold. But Toriel had said I was burning up…

I had noticed something just then. My memories… I remembered that this was from a game. I remembered what Toriel was like in the game, and she wasn't quite acting in character. Is it because this was just a dream, and thus slightly warped? I had a feeling deep in my gut that it wasn't like that, but accepting that thought was easier than facing the possible reality of what was going on.

"There you go, child. I'll make a medicine to help your wounds heal faster. It appears you need to speak to my friend right away."

 _Look, she's trying to get rid of you. She doesn't really care. Her kindness is just a ruse. She's going to toss you out as soon as your wounds are healed._ I frowned and averted my eyes from Toriel. No, that's not how she is. That's not how she's supposed to be! Something has to be wrong… her character isn't supposed to be like this….

Toriel's eyes went sad for a moment as she watched me, but she didn't speak. It felt like just looking at me told her everything she wanted to know. In a sense, that made me feel naked. Like I had no secrets. Then again, her character did seem to be the insightful type. It seemed like good mothers always knew what was up.

"U-um, if it's alright, I'd like to, uh, sleep some more…," I said shakily. I cursed at myself for how much I fumbled over my words. Toriel smiled once again and nodded, her smile obviously forced by the sad look lingering in her eyes.

"That is fine, child. I'll go ahead and make dinner. I will wake you when it is finished," Toriel said. She also urged me to finish the tea before leaving the room. I sighed, placing the teacup on the floor by the wardrobe and sunk back into the bed. _This is all just a dream_ , I thought to myself. _If you go to sleep in a dream, you're supposed to wake up, right?_

I closed my eyes and tried to drift to sleep. My body still ached. Apparently, painkillers don't work in dreams. I tried to distract myself from the pain by daydreaming, and it worked, kind of. I relaxed my body as best I could, and eventually I was able to drift off to sleep.

~

 _You didn't think it'd be that easy, did you?_


	3. Chapter 3

A dream, clouded with fog. I saw a face. A young man, perhaps in his mid-teens, with his arms outstretched to me. His face was kind and welcoming, however, a feeling of dread loomed over me. But for some reason, I moved closer. As I got closer, the fog thinned, and I felt an odd sensation of relief.

I stood in front of him now. He was a bit shorter than me, his head coming up to my shoulders. His cheeks were rosy and his smile appeared almost emotionless. It was like he was smiling just to calm my nerves, to get me to trust him. The longer I stared at him, the clearer my mind became. It was as if he was my remedy… yet I could feel there was a catch.

Suddenly, the boy's arms wrapped around me. He gripped me tight, and his arms continued to squeeze until it hurt. I wondered how this kid had so much strength within his scrawny body. I tried pushing him away, but my efforts were useless. He kept squeezing until I cried out in pain.

"S-stop! Let me go!" I cried out, tears forming in my eyes. I could feel my ribs starting to bend inward and snap. It was slow and agonizing; my chest ached as each bone slowly fractured and broke. My chest started to collapse into itself as the young man kept squeezing. Why won't he stop? Can't he see he's hurting me?

I then heard him say, in a horrifying demonic voice, "You can't escape me. I'll hold onto you until we become one." His face almost appeared to melt as he squeezed me hard. It was as if he was trying to force his body into mine. "It will hurt less if you just _give in_."

I woke to the voice in my head taunting me. My hands immediately went to my chest, and I wheezed in a huge breath of air. My body felt stressed, like I hadn't been breathing for the past minute or so. I was thankful that I had woken up before anything serious happened.

 _This isn't an ordinary dream._ The voice spoke up after I had managed to calm down. It brought me back to reality- if you could call it that. I was still in Toriel's house. I groaned out of pain and exhaustion as I slowly sat up. My nose scrunched up slightly as it caught wind of something.

On the ground there was a slice of pie. I frowned slightly. It didn't smell like any kind of pie I've ever had before. My stomach objected to the scent of the pie and any sense of hunger I had quickly vanished. Slowly, I got out of bed.

There was a small note on the plate that the pie was on. I had barely noticed it in my state of mind. I reached down and grabbed it. In neat handwriting it said:

 _I didn't know what kind of pie you liked, so I just made my favorite: snail pie. I hope you like it._

-Toriel

Snail pie? My stomach churned at the thought of it. I definitely wasn't going to eat that. I looked around the room, but nothing seemed interesting to me. I wasn't particularly the nosy type. This wasn't my house and as a guest, it'd be rude to look through everything.

I left the room and headed down the hallway. If anything, at least this house was warm and cozy. I walked passed the staircase, feeling the heat increase as I headed into the living room. This room was the warmest out of the ones I've been in, due to the lit fireplace. I saw Toriel sitting in a lounge chair reading a book and walked over to her. She looked up at me.

"Up already, I see?" Toriel said. "I want you to know how glad I am to see you feeling better. But, you still need to rest. I changed your bandages and applied the medicine I told you about earlier. It should help your wounds heal faster." I nodded my thanks, realizing that I hadn't even noticed the bandages were changed. "You can explore around the house, but please stay inside."

I nodded once more and wandered off. I wasn't sure where exactly I was going, but I felt restless staying here with Toriel. I wanted to wake up. My legs led me into the hallway, by the staircase. Curiosity lit my eyes with life. Was this dream world exactly like the game? No… it couldn't be. So much has happened that wasn't in the game.

There was more to explore. _So_ much more. Suddenly, I felt excited. Some people would kill to be in their fantasy world of choice, so why am I moping about it? I headed down the stairs, wondering if Toriel would come to stop me. My wounds disagreed with my excitement, so I slowed my pace. My hand traced along the wall as I walked.

Surely enough, I could hear hooved feet making their way down the stairs. I turned, and after a short moment, Toriel came into my view. She looked… disappointed. My excitement started turning into anxiety as she approached.

"I see… so you're like the rest of them," she said sadly. "I… suppose that no matter what I do, you'll just continue on. I won't stop you. So please…. please, please, _please_ … don't hurt anyone." Her voice was quiet and shaky. I could see tears in her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away. "There is a friend of mine on the other side of the door just at the end of this hallway. Speak to him. He can answer any questions you might have much better than I can." After stating that, Toriel gave a little bow and quickly ran off.

I was shocked by what she had said. The emotion in her voice was unexpected, and the look on her face…. I couldn't help but feel slightly depressed. Why was she begging me not to hurt anyone? This certainly wasn't in character for her at all… She was supposed to challenge me, not simply let me through the door. This certainly wasn't like the game, not at all.

Lost in my thoughts, I continued on down the long hallway until I reached the door. My weak body had trouble opening such a large and heavy door, and I could feel my wounds threatening to rip open each time I strained. _Well, shit,_ I thought to myself. I wouldn't be able to get through the door until my wounds completely healed.

 _I can help you with that._ The voice spoke proudly. I frowned, not wanting anything to do with it. _Oh, so that's how it is? Look… you won't be able to wake up unless you get through that door. You can either wait until your wounds heal, which will take_ days _, or you can let me help you… for a small price of course._

Whether I liked the voice or not, it seemed to have a better understanding of what was going on than I did. If I couldn't wake up until after I got through this door, then… What would happen if I waited? How does time work here? I couldn't risk being asleep for multiple days. Keeping caught up in college was already stressful enough, I couldn't afford (literally) to get behind. I worked too hard to fail.

"Wh-what's the price?" I quietly asked. The voice chuckled. _For my power to work, I need souls._ I already didn't like where this was going. _To get souls, you need to kill. I already have the perfect target in mind…_

"No. No fucking way, I'm not getting any blood on my hands. And you can't possibly tell me that I need to _murder_ someone to open a fucking door."

 _You speak as if these things are people._

"They have feelings!"

 _This is only a dream, remember?_

"Bullshit. You were part of the dream too, and yet you stuck around when I woke up."

 _What about your life? You can't possibly say you're willing to abandon it for this world._

I stopped short at that. "W-well… that still doesn't mean it's okay to kill someone!"

 _Ah, but you worked so hard for everything you've gained. You're going to destroy the future you've been working towards for a world you don't even belong in?_

Panic rose within me. Although I hated to admit it, the voice did have a point… I would be lying if I said I didn't consider taking up the offer. However, just then, I heard a knock on the other side of the door. My heart jumped, startled at being caught considering murder.

I stood and faced the door. "Wh-who's there…?"

An odd voice responded. It was deep, but kind of goofy sounding. "Theodore."

"Can you open this door?" I asked. The voice didn't respond for a good minute. I knocked and called out. "H-hello? Are you still there?"

"You're supposed to say, 'Theodore who?'" the voice said.

"O-oh! Sorry... Theodore who?"

"Theodore wasn't open, so I knocked!" It was silent for a moment. In my distress, I couldn't find it in me to laugh at the stupid joke. "Ah, dang it. The joke's ruined." Suddenly, I heard a click, and I could see light as the door started to open. On the other side I saw trees and snow, and my darting eyes eventually landed on a short, smiling skeleton.

"You're not good at jokes, are ya kid?" he asked, stuffing his hands back into his pockets. "Don't worry, my bro is the same way. Maybe you two would get along."

"Uhh…," was all I could muster out. "Y-you're-"

He quickly cut me off. "I'm Sans. Sans the skeleton." He looked at me directly in the eyes. I suddenly felt like I had no secrets. "You're not very good at this, are you?" His grin widened. "You weren't supposed to meet me until the bridge."

"Are you the one who can tell me what's going on?" I asked him. He motioned me to follow him. We started walking down the snowy path, and I couldn't help but hug myself from the cold. The ruins were much, much warmer, and it was hard to believe that they kept that way, considering how cold it was outside.

"I suppose you have a lot of questions. This is going _tibia_ long talk, isn't it?" He paused to laugh. I couldn't believe he was making jokes in a situation like this. Couldn't he see how distressed I was? He seemed notice my lack of response. "That's, uh, your cue to laugh." I frowned.

"Sorry… I have a lot on my mind…," I responded, looking away. Sans smiled at me. Well, he's been smiling at me the whole time, but this one seemed to show a bit of understanding.

"Alright, alright. I'll try to be serious, but no promises. Just make it quick, I still have to squeeze in my afternoon nap." I smiled slightly, his light-heartedness cheering me up a bit. "There ya go, kiddo." Sans patted my back in an attempt to comfort me further. It felt weird being touched by a skeleton, but nevertheless, I accepted the gesture. I took in a long breath and collected my thoughts before asking my first question.

"Well… first thing's first, am I in a dream?"

Sans looked at me, curious. "How hard did you hit your head when you fell through the barrier, kid? Can't you tell that this is all real?"

"I didn't fall through anything. Since last night, I go to sleep and I end up here. I don't get it."

Sans then looked slightly confused. "Really?" For a quick moment, his expression changed into a knowing one, but he quickly hid it with his smiling pokerface. "So, you like to travel dimensions, do ya?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" The idea was so far out that I didn't understand what he had even said. Confusion and panic filled my chest. Sans just laughed and waved a hand in dismissal.

"Oh, nothin'. Hey, we're getting to the part where you gotta meet my bro, Papyrus. Uh, be gentle with him, would ya? He's pretty cool and all, but he's… seen some stuff. He's kinda…. jumpy." I hadn't even noticed that we already crossed the bridge.

Papyrus showed up just then. He didn't seem to notice me right away, even though I was standing right next to Sans.

"Sans! You… haven't found anymore humans, have you?" he asked, sounding nervous.

"Nah, just a wandering soul," Sans replied, which surprised me. Papyrus looked relieved.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Papyrus looked at me. "Hello, creepy soul!" He then turned back to Sans. "Make sure you keep staying watch! You know the rules on new human arrivals! Oh, and recalibrate your traps, you lazybones!" Papyrus hustled off. Sans then looked at me.

"Isn't my brother so cool?" He grinned at me, but I couldn't help but feel sad. In the game, Papyrus loved humans. But just now, he seemed… scared. Just like with Toriel, he was acting out of character. The curiosity kept nagging at me. Why did they act like that? I looked at Sans, wanting to ask, but something within me kept the words from coming out.

"Hey, kid. Could I ask you a favor?" Sans asked, now looking off in the direction his brother ran off to. "My brothers been feeling pretty _bonely_ lately. Can you maybe hang out with him some? I think you two could be pretty great friends if you did."

I nodded in agreement. Perhaps I could learn about why Papyrus seemed so afraid of humans. Besides, it seemed to me that the farther I go, the less and less this "dream" resembled the actual game. I might as well step off the path while I'm ahead.

I said goodbye to Sans and we parted ways after he said something about taking a nap. As I walked, I thought over the conversation I had with him. I noticed he had said a couple of odd things. " _You weren't supposed to meet me until the bridge._ " Was Sans… aware that he's a character from a videogame? The thought of it confused me. How could he know if he was? How did he find out? I had a feeling Sans knew a lot more than what he lets on by his goofy demeanor.

I noticed something as I was walking. A small, flashing light by the evergreen trees. I approached it with curiosity. Last time, it was one of these lights that caused me to wake up. I reached out for it and tried to touch the light. Warmth rushed through my body as I did, from my toes, running up to my head. My vision went black, and then I felt nothing.


	4. Chapter 4

The morning went by as usual. I woke up, got something to eat, took a shower, got dressed, did my hair, and put on a light layer of makeup before heading out. I had three classes to attend today. When I first got up, I had decided that I'd put aside everything that's been going on and simply focus on real life. _But wasn't that real life, too?_ I thought to myself, anxiety coursing through me.

Everything felt so real when I was in that dream world. Does that make it reality, or just a super realistic dream? How could I know for sure? I mean, sure, the voice in my head says it's real. But… what if I'm crazy and I just don't know it? Then again, did I really want to risk it being real and possibly get myself killed? I had already been attacked once in that dream world. I didn't want to die… not permanently.

The anxiety remained as I left my little apartment and started heading towards school. It was about a twenty minute walk to the campus grounds, and then another fifteen minutes to get to the buildings where my classes actually took place. By now, I was used to walking all over the place, but when I had first moved out here, my legs hated me for weeks.

The late morning air was brisk and the sky was cloudy. I hadn't even realized how cold it was, and conveniently forgot to grab a jacket. As I shivered, I wondered what day it was. I wasn't even keeping track of the days anymore. It felt like I never slept, so the days just melted together. I wondered how I was able to still function. Did my body actually rest at night? From how sore I still was, I wasn't sure. I _felt_ rested… sort of.

My mind wandered as I walked. I was honestly surprised that I didn't run into anything on my way. Once I get lost in my thoughts, I don't really notice anything else. My mind jumped from place to place, worrying about the dreams, worrying about the voice, wondering about Sans, and worrying about school. It seemed these strange dreams were taking over my life.

I had eventually arrived at my destination, and attended class as usual. My class list was pretty… all-over the place, seeing as I was a freshman with an undecided major. In light of that, I had taken as many required classes as I could. The student advisor also had me placed in a couple different elective classes to try and get a taste of what I wanted to major in. I was only nineteen years old. I didn't even want to think about growing up, let alone what I want to do for the rest of my life.

The anxiety about my dreams then mixed with anxiety about my future, causing… a big heap of anxiety. My heart raced as negative thoughts kept coursing through my head. I sat in class and quietly hid my panic attack, absent-mindedly listening to the professor lecture about history. The paper I was taking notes on quickly turned into a scribbled mess as I tried to distract myself from my thoughts.

I weakly attempted to bottle up my feelings, but more negative thoughts kept popping up about different subjects. Before I knew it, I was awkwardly sitting in class, furiously doodling in my notebook and trying to hold back tears. No one in the class seemed to notice or care, which felt relieving yet entrapping. I didn't have to burden anyone with my weird feelings, but yet I was stuck going through it on my own.

 _I'm here._

I bit my lip hard and lifted my head up to look around. Was that just the voice in my head again? There was an empty seat right next to me, and the other students seemed to be focused on the professor. Of course it was the voice in my head. No one was really paying any attention to me. I stared down at my battlefield of unrecognizable scribbles and tried to compose myself.

"Look again," someone whispered to me. I jumped, startled, and looked over to the… wait, wasn't that desk empty? Sitting in the desk I saw a smirking young man, dressed in a green-and-yellow striped shirt, with brown pants and brown leather shoes. His eyes had a mischievous look to them and he leaned over the arm of the desk towards me. I felt like I recognized him from somewhere, but I had no idea who he was.

I'm sure I looked like an idiot staring at this kid with wide, shocked eyes, as the professor then called me out and asked, "Is everything alright back there?" I blushed in embarrassment and looked away, nodding my head.

"Y-yes," I managed to stutter out. Thankfully, the professor looked away and continued teaching the lesson. I heard a teasing chuckle come from the boy. I went back to scribbling in my notebook, shrinking in my chair as I heard the other students snickering. _Were they laughing at me?_ I wondered anxiously.

"Who else would they be laughing at?" the boy next to me asked. I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath to calm my nerves before looking at him. He was still leaning over the desk, smirking teasingly at me.

"Who are you?" I quietly whispered. "And did you just read my mind?" He laughed and leaned back in his chair, causing the front legs to hover in the air as he put his feet up on the desk. I glanced at the professor nervously. Wasn't he worried about getting called out?

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked as he turned his gaze to the professor as well. "Don't worry about him. No one can see me except you."

My eyes lit up with realization. "You… the voice?" I looked down at my notebook. There was no way... first a voice, and now I'm hallucinating? Why was this happening all of a sudden? Maybe I need to ask my mother about the mental health history of my family… I didn't recall any immediate family suffering from any mental disorders. I would've known about it by now… right?

"Maybe your family doesn't care to tell you the important things. Ever think about that?" the boy said, his eyes returning to me. I frowned at his words. No, my family and I were on pretty good terms. I was a pretty good kid when I was growing up, and had never really been a problem child. "They probably don't think you're mature enough. I mean, look at you. You were practically in tears over a dream about a video game."

"It wasn't like that!" I defended. The heads of all the other students turned to look at me. Some of them snickered. I instantly blushed and covered my mouth. _Shit!_ The professor looked at me with a concerned frown.

"Do you need to step out for the day? You seem very distracted," he said.

"What he really meant was, 'You're disrupting the class! Get out of here!'" the boy said. I gathered all of my stuff and shoved it into my bag. I couldn't hold back the tears anymore. The other students watched as I quickly got up and left the classroom, wiping the tears away from my eyes and hoping no one would notice. _I'm so stupid. I'm such an idiot._ I enveloped myself in self-destructive thoughts as I hurried out of the building and back towards my apartment.

~

I slammed the door to my apartment loudly, not caring that it was disruptive. I dropped all of my stuff and jumped onto my bed, hugging the pillow to my face and screaming out all of my frustrations. I let myself cry it out. I felt like shit right now, and the only way I could feel better was to cry it all out. My next class wasn't for another two hours, if I would even feel emotionally prepared by then.

"You're such a crybaby, you know that?" I felt a weight on the bed next to me. I moved the pillow from my eyes and glared at the boy. Why did he antagonize me like that? Why is he _still_ antagonizing me? He rolled his eyes. "I wasn't antagonizing you. I was telling you the truth."

"Stop reading my mind, dammit!" I cried out at him.

"I'm not reading your mind. I'm part of you," he said, grinning darkly at me. "You can't escape me. Look, I'm basically your only friend now, you got that? So you'd best start treating me with a little more respect."

"You're not my friend. You're no where near 'friend' material," I spat at him. He frowned at me.

"I'm only telling you the truth. The truth hurts, but isn't it better than living a lie?" he asked, glancing at his fingernails absent-mindedly. I rolled over so I wouldn't have to look at him. He had a point, whether I liked it or not. But how could I know if what he was saying was really the truth? "You just have to trust me."

"Yeah, right!" I scoffed. I heard him sigh.

"That's basically saying you can't trust yourself. I'm part of you, part of your mind, part of your consciousness."

"Then why are you so much different from me? And why are you a boy?"

"Gender isn't relative to the situation."

"You didn't answer my first question."

"It's a long story."

"That's not a good answer!"

He sighed again, this time in annoyance. "You're annoying, you know that? Look, you should be thankful that you have me. No other human will ever have the guts to tell you the truth and nothing but the truth like I do. I'm the only friend you need. Just trust me, okay?"

I frowned and stared at the wall. "What makes you so different from everyone else?" I quietly asked him.

"I've lived in this world and the next. I've experienced things you could only dream of…. literally," he paused to chuckle, "So doesn't that make me a little more knowledgeable in this situation?" I could feel him looking at me with that mischievous glint in his eyes. "It's kill or be killed. People only look after themselves in this world."

I thought over everything he's said. People only look after themselves… then why is he pushing so hard to be my friend? Isn't that hypocritical? I suppose humans are social creatures. Everyone needs at least one friend… even the bad guys. There is no person that is truly heartless, right? Even Adolf Hitler had someone he cared about.

It was quiet for awhile. I was honestly surprised that the boy didn't interrupt me at all. Eventually, however, I ended up rolling back over to face him. He was sitting on the bed, picking at his nails. I stared at him for awhile. Where did I recognize him from? I racked my brain to try and remember, but my head was so jumbled up from all the craziness. Eventually, I gave up.

"So… what's your name?" I asked. He turned and grinned at me.

"My name is Chara."


End file.
